Storm and choppy sea alert following ‘Matmo’ storm in Sabah

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Meteorological Department last night issued an alert for strong wind and choppy sea following the ‘Matmo Storm’ detected about 2,177 km to the north-east of Kudat, Sabah at 12 midnight.

The department said in a statement that the storm was detected at latitude 26.4 N and longitude 118.6 E and moving towards the north-west at a speed of 20 kilometres per hour.

The storm would result in strong south-westerly winds with speeds of between 40km and 50km per hour and waves reaching up to 3.5 metres high in the waters of Palawan, Reef North, Condore, and Layang-Layang which were expected to continue until today.

Meanwhile, the waters off Perlis and Kedah were also expected to face a similar situation while in the waters of Phuket, strong winds were expected to persist until today.

The department also issued a warning of low visibility of less than five kilometres in the northern part of the Straits of Melaka following the haze, adding that the situation would be dangerous for ships not equipped with navigational tools.– BERNAMA